Abstract

During his keynote address at 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital held at University of Nicosia, Cyprus, 18‑19 April 2011, John Girard posed the question, Are You Ready for the Future? This rather rhetorical question was designed to create a conversation about what we should expect in the future in terms of social technology, leadership and a culture of collaboration. Throughout the conference, an excellent dialogue ensued about what the future might hold. The central focus of this discourse
surrounded how collaboration could or should change in the future. The genesis of the keynote was the research completed by John Girard, Cindy Gordon, JoAnn Girard for their recent book Business Goes Virtual: Realizing the Value of Collaboration, Social and Virtual Strategies. This article is adapted from the book and focuses on why business leaders should consider focussing on collaboration.